Portuguese sows seeds of soccer love in SZ
Editor’s Note
编者按
Shenzhen Daily has joined hands with the Information Office of Shenzhen Municipal People's Government to launch a series of reports titled “Decade of Transformation,” to tell the story of Shenzhen in the eyes of expats. Rafael Saavedra, a popular YouTuber who has been living and working in China for seven years, will host the series, showing you Shenzhen, a dynamic and energetic city from the perspective of 60 expats. This is the second story of the series.
由深圳市人民政府新闻办公室与英文《深圳日报》（Shenzhen Daily）共同策划推出的系列全媒体国际传播作品《我们这10年：湾区老外说变化（Decade of Transformation）》已在各大主流媒体和互联网平台正式上线，该系列将集中展示过去十年以来深圳在各个领域所取得的伟大成就。此次系列作品中，在中国工作和生活了七年的知名网络博主Rafael Saavedra将向大家介绍60位外籍人士，通过他们的脚步和镜头记录和观察一座行进中的中国年轻都市。敬请垂注！
Profile
人物简介
Filipe Neto Maia has lived in Shenzhen for over eight years and is the founder of the soccer school called Portuguese Football Warriors. Maia loves soccer, and he is passing on the passion to the kids in Shenzhen and helping them fall in love with the sport.
居深八年多的葡萄牙人菲利浦•内托•迈亚是葡萄牙勇士足球学校的创始人。他热爱足球，并把这份热爱传递给深圳的孩子，希望他们也能爱上这项运动。
葡萄牙人在深播撒热爱足球的“种子”
Portuguese sows seeds of soccer love in SZ
When it comes to Shenzhen, what do you think of first? “China’s Silicon Valley,” “City of Libraries,” “City of Piano,” “UNESCO City of Design,” or “City of Parks?” In fact, Shenzhen has another calling card — a key city for national soccer development.
提到深圳，你最先想到的是什么？“中国硅谷”、“图书馆之城”、“钢琴之城”、“设计之都”、“千园之城”？其实，深圳还有另外一张靓丽的名片，那就是全国足球发展重点城市。
Shenzheners love nature and sports. Soccer, a sport with a long history, is brimming with vitality in Shenzhen, a young coastal city. Filipe Neto Maia, a Portuguese expat who has been living in the city for eight years, feels the same way.
深圳人热爱自然、热爱运动。足球这项历史悠久的运动在深圳这座年轻的海滨城市正焕发着蓬勃生机。在深八年多的葡萄牙人菲利浦·内托·迈亚也深以为然。
Promoting soccer culture
足球文化传播者
Maia is the founder of the soccer school called Portuguese Football Warriors. He first worked for a wine company and then discovered that China lacked a soccer culture, so he decided to open his own soccer school in Shenzhen.
迈亚是葡萄牙勇士足球学校的创始人。最初，他在一家葡萄酒公司工作，后来发现中国的足球文化有所欠缺，于是他决定在深圳开办自己的足球学校。
Filipe Neto Maia, founder of Portuguese Football Warriors, at an interview with Shenzhen Daily.
葡萄牙勇士足球学校创始人菲利浦·内托·迈亚接受英文《深圳日报》记者采访。
According to Maia, it is convenient for a foreigner to start a business in Shenzhen. As an avid soccer lover, Filipe has spotted a niche in the market which has an enormous potential to introduce children to soccer and help them fall in love with the sport, as it has an overwhelming global appeal and continues to grow with an ever-expanding audience.
迈亚表示，外国人在深圳创业很方便。作为一名狂热的足球爱好者，迈亚在足球培训市场找到商机，并看到了该市场背后巨大的潜力。他决定让孩子们认识并爱上这项在全球最受关注和喜爱的运动之一。
Kids at a soccer training session coached by Portuguese Football Warriors coaches.
Maia said that one of the school’s goals is to make the kids fall in love with the sport. “Every day you can see here that each one of these kids is in love with soccer, so basically they are spreading the love for it.”
迈亚说，他的足球学校的宗旨是让孩子们爱上足球。“每天你都可以看到，这里的每一个孩子都热爱足球，所以他们也是在传递对足球的热爱。”
“Our goal is to spread the love for football. That’s what we can do. And I think this is important because it’s one of the government’s priorities to develop the sport,” Maia said.
“我们的目标是传递对足球的热爱。这是我们能做的。我认为这很重要，因为这也是政府支持足球发展的重要一环。”
Key city for national soccer development
深圳，全国足球发展重点城市
On Jan. 25 this year, Shenzhen was approved by the country’s sports authority to become one of nine key cities in the first batch for national soccer development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). The other eight cities are Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Changchun, Chongqing, Dalian and Qingdao.
今年1月25日，国家体育总局办公厅印发《关于公布“十四五”期间首批全国足球发展重点城市的通知》，确定上海市、成都市、武汉市、深圳市、广州市、长春市、重庆市、大连市、青岛市等九个城市为“十四五”期间首批全国足球发展重点城市。
In fact, the city government set up a leading group headed by Mayor Qin Weizhong to promote the city’s soccer reform and development last year. Early in 1992, Shenzhen was selected as one of China’s key soccer cities.
为创建全国足球发展重点城市，进一步促进深圳市足球改革发展，深圳市政府去年就成立了深圳市全国足球发展重点城市建设工作领导小组。早在1992年，深圳就被确定为全国12个足球重点城市之一。
Maia and two other coaches of Portuguese Football Warriors give advice to kids at an interval of a soccer training session.
葡萄牙勇士足球学校教练在训练中场休息时对学员进行指导。
“What we want is to pass the love for football and that’s why the country gets better in a professional way when somebody loves a sport. And we are doing that daily here, that is, letting the kids fall in love with football,” he said.
“我们想要的是传递对足球的热爱，而当人们热爱一项运动时，这个国家在这项运动的专业化水平就会变得更好。我们每天都在这样做，也就是让孩子们爱上足球。”他说。
More soccer exchanges
推动足球国际交流
Maia is looking forward to bringing the kids in his schools to Europe again where they can play with excellent players trained in different countries and in different cultures and he hopes this can happen soon when the COVID situation improves.
迈亚期待着将他学校里的孩子们再次带到欧洲，在那里他们可以与来自不同国家、不同文化的优秀球员一起训练。他希望在新冠疫情缓和后能尽快实现这一愿望。
Kids at a soccer training session.
孩子们全情投入足球训练。
According to him, Shenzhen’s soccer education should be more professional. “How to coach the kids, how to make them fall in love with the sport and how to give proper training to them in our own way — these are aspects that we need to give more thought to.”
迈亚认为，深圳的足球教育应该朝着专业化的方向发展。“如何指导孩子们，如何让他们爱上这项运动，以及如何以我们自己的方式对他们进行适当的训练。这些都是我们需要更多考虑的方面。”
Maia gives instructions from the sidelines at a soccer training session.
迈亚在场边指导学员。
“Shenzhen is a very green city. It’s close to the beach and also close to Hong Kong and Macao. The infrastructure is amazing. That’s what makes Shenzhen such a wonderful city,” Maia said, who has a lifelong interest in soccer and has been passing on the passion to thousands of kids in Shenzhen and contributing to the construction of a key city for national soccer development.
“深圳是一座优秀的绿色城市。它临近海滩，与香港和澳门相距不远。基础设施也很完善。这些都让深圳成为一个美妙的城市。”迈亚说。而他也会一直将自己对足球的无比热爱传递给深圳成千上万的孩子，助力深圳建设全国足球发展重点城市。